Police Say Mother and Daughter Swiped Car, Sold Stolen Jewelry and Used Heroin

FAIRHAVEN — A mother and daughter went on a crime spree Friday that began with a stolen Lexus and ended with an arrest on drug charges, according to police.

The wild day began at 11 a.m. when a “minor fender bender” occurred in the Ocean State Job Lot parking lot in Fairhaven, according to town police. When the cars’ drivers got out of their vehicles to exchange insurance information, Rhonda and Devyn Stone — who were not involved in the accident — stole one of the vehicles and drove away, police said.

“All of a sudden, one of them looked up and there went his car,” Fairhaven Police Public Affairs Officer Sgt. Kevin Kobza said. “They just hopped in and stole it.”

Within an hour of the theft, Fairhaven police were able to track the stolen Lexus via its LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery System to the parking lot of Empire Loan on Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford.

While law enforcement officers were waiting for the car to be towed, they observed two women, identified as 53-year-old Rhonda and 23-year-old Devyn leaving the store. Plain-clothed detectives followed the pair to the Huttleston Motel in Fairhaven, where they had been renting a room.

The two were arrested after video footage from Empire Loan showed them arriving in the stolen Lexus. According to Fairhaven Police, both mother and daughter were holding hypodermic needles and syringes when they let police into their room at the motel. Police also found a brown powdery substance believed to be heroin inside the hotel room.

While searching the stolen vehicle, police also found a plastic bag filled with $250 worth of jewelry and loose pieces of jewelry scattered on the floor. Police said they also discovered the Stones had pawned some jewelry at Empire Loan.

Kobza said police believe the mother and daughter broke into a home and stole the jewelry either before or after stealing the Lexus. As of Monday, no break-in has been reported, and police are seeking more information, Kobza said.

He added that police are unsure of where the pair got the drugs, but believe they planned to buy more with money made from pawning the jewelry.

“This is a strange series of events for Fairhaven,” Kobza said. “Each crime was essentially committed to facilitate more crimes. They stole a car to break into a house to pawn stolen jewelry to purchase drugs.”

The two were arraigned Monday. Rhonda Stone was held on $1,000 bail, Devyn Stone was held on $1,200 bail. Their next court date is a pretrial hearing on Aug. 29.

Both mother and daughter are known to police. Court records show Rhonda was charged with receiving stolen jewelry in 2010. That case was continued until 2014.

Devyn has a lengthier record, with 12 arrests between 2008 and 2013, court records show. Most recently, she pleaded guilty to robbery in November and assault with a deadly weapon in December.